Where do I go from here?? Part 2, 2019 follow up

 

CEO Birder, Arizona 2025 Mt. Lemmon

Wow!! Can you believe it?!? Six years since I first did this original post in 2019.  My have things changed!! If we only knew then what we know now.  In March 2020 was the COVID mess that dragged the world for three years or more. We also have had two presidential elections since then. The earth is changing with more severe storms and more water than ever before. Also, I a moment of silence, for all the loved ones, family and friends who have passed since 2019. may GOD rest their soul. 

Legend killer

Well, well . . . here we are again, in the middle of no where. It's the late spring of 2025 and birding is about to pick up. Here in Ohio, the wood warblers, both breeding and migrating ones are coming north now, with shorebirds to follow. So, at this point in the Blog, I thought I would do a recap of my birding adventures since 2019, and where the future leads me.



1991, gap years, 2011 restart:
I saw my 500th bird, in southern Cally with my grandparents. I was a freshman in high school and just finished my last push in 1991 to get it done.  YEAH!!  Then came high school, then college, then post college, then my dads' death, then a girlfriend, whom is my beautiful wife, then my thirties, now late 40's etc.  I got back into birding when I decided to visit my grandparents one spring in Texas. Then the next year, I invited my friend Sam to come done, and that's when the Code 5 Black Vented Oriole showed up . . . then I got back into listing and even Sam took an interest in the hobby. Take a look at the last 138 birds I've seen over the years, on the right side of the blog.

Ago, late 2019 post: 
The last life bird I saw was May 19th, 2019, the Swainson's warbler, last of the east coast birds. That puts me at #620 for the ABA area and that's 9 total new birds this year. So I am very happy with my trips to MN, AZ and Dayton. So now is a good time to review my list, and write down every Code 1 and Code 2 bird left to see (minus palegic birds). Once that was done, my list shows that I only need 18--Code 1's  and 42--Code 2's.  Now, I have taken those birds and grouped them into which states I can see them and times of year. Remember, these things have wings and can fly!!
So below is my states I need to visit and what I can see there.

2013 LRGV

Now, May 2025 post: 
The last life bird I saw was April 25th, 2025, the Roufus-backed Robin Code 3, a hard-to-get thrush, usually in SE AZ only. That puts me at #638 for the ABA area and that's 5 total new birds this year. So, I am very happy with my trip to AZ. Now is a good time to review my list and write down every Code 1 and Code 2 bird left to see (minus pelagic birds). Once that was done, my list shows that I only need 13--Code 1's  and 32--Code 2's.  Now, I have taken those birds and grouped them into which states I can see them and times of year. Remember, these things have wings and can fly!!
So below are my states I need to visit and what I can see there.

States                        Code 1 & 2 needs

California                   Arizona                 
Mountain Quail           CA Condor            
WhiteHeaded Wp        Pinyon Jay                  
Blackbacked WP         Am. 3 toed Wp    
Bells sparrow              Am. North Goshawk       
Hammonds empidx   Buff-breast empidx         
CA Condor                 Mexican Chickadee
Island ScrubJay          Hammonds empidx     
PacfGldnPlvr              Baird's Sparrow 
Black Rail                  Varied Bunting       
                                   ThkBill KingBird

                                   Chihuahuan Meadowlark      
                                                           
Colorado                                 Oregon/Idaho
 Chestnut Collard.LS               Chuckar            
 Mountain Plover                     WhteHeadWp/BBWP       
 Pinyon Jay                              Hammonds Ep.                       
 Gray Crown RF                      Boreal Owl       
 Black Rosy Finch                   Cassia Cross Bill
 Grtr Prairie Chkn                    Dusky Grouse
 Lssr Prairie Chkn 

                       


Maine                      Alaska       

Bicknells Thrush     Thk-billed Murre            
Razorbill                  Horned Puffin                              
Dovekie                   Grouse                                         
Roseate Tern            Rock Ptarmigan

                                 Wood Sandpiper


Florida            East Coast Pelagic  

Salt Marsh sp    Black capped Petral
                          South Polar Skua or Great
                          Manx Shearwater
                          

Texas                               Minnesota   

 Black-capped Vireo       Borrel Owl              
 Mountain Plover            American 3 toe Wp

                                        Black-backed Wp

                                        Bohemian Waxwing

                                                       
Ohio            Michigan UP                                                                      
                     Black backed Wp

                     Spruce Grouse

                                                                                                

Wildcards

Northern Goshawk--north AZ, UT
Chesnut Collr LS--CO east plains
Spruce, Sooty & Dusky Grouse--hard, harder, hardest :)
Black Rail--Sacramento CA, heard only?                          
Black Swift--??                     
Baird's sparrow--SE AZ, or MT plains for breeding, last "easy" sparrow

Bar-tailed Godwit--SF bay or Corpus Christi TX


                                                                                         
                                                                                         
2025 & 2026 trips

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• Stormy Petral II Pelagic--August 29, 30
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& beyond
The goal is to see almost all the remaining 44 birds listed, thus that would put me around 682, well within range of 700 ABA traditional area. That would set me up for my first trip to Alaska to hopefully see #700 there.

 

Lake Erie in winter

Wood-warblers: Needed


Comila--code 3, Big Bend NP TX
Rufous-capped--code 3, AZ
Golden-crowned--code 4, south TX, missed 2018 bird, missed 2024
Fan-tailed--code 4, AZ
Slate-throated Redstart--code 4, Big Bend NP, TX
Bachman's--code 6, extinct, giant cane bird, no habitat left

 Feel free to leave "good" comments on the blog, maybe we can meet up and BIRD!!

Next up: Summer of 2025 and planning 2026 trips. Also, any OHIO lifers please!! Come back White Wagtail.